Old Habits
by SweetandUnknown
Summary: Blair and Nate meet outside the prom and have a talk as some old habits are rekindled. STANDALONE. Around book 3 or 4.


Hey this is my first Gossip Girl fic. I love the books and no way do I own any characters. I can't touch the way the books are written, but I figured I'd give writing a fan fic a try. This is a standalone. I hope you enjoy!

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Old Habits

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"Hand me a cigarette," Blair said, getting more pissed by the minute. It was prom night and she was sitting at the table with Serena, both of them without their dates. Aaron, Serena's date, had gone off somewhere to smoke a stupid herbal cigarette with some other girl. The only reason why he had come was because Blair forced him to because she didn't want Serena to be dateless.

And Blair's date, well, he was off writing poetry. Dan was so much fun, not. Blair was so bored with him, but no way in hell was she being caught dateless at her Senior prom, so she asked Jenny, yes that's right, a freshman for help. Blair considered asking Nate, or even Chuck, but even they had dates before she could ask, so she resorted to her young friend's brother.

"Mr. Anderson is right over there," Serena warned Blair, handing her a cigarette and lighter, but her eyes gave her away, daring Blair to smoke it right inside the main hall of the hotel where the prom was being held.

"Do you think I'm that stupid?" Blair snapped, "I'm going to go outside. No way in hell am I going to get in trouble before I'm in the dorm at Yale."

Blair had worked her ass off to get into Yale after many screw ups, and there wasn't a chance she was going to risk losing it now that she was accepted.

"I'll see you later," Blair said, sticking the unlit cigarette in-between her lips as she squeezed through couples to get outside.

The warm air of New York City greeted her as she opened the door. It was early June and warmer than usual.

"Weather better be as good in Connecticut," Blair thought to herself as she flicked the lighter. She let out a groan when the flame wouldn't stay ignited. She checked the lighter and saw there was barely any liquid left in it.

"And you thought I was bad with pot," said a voice, a lighter appearing in front of Blair's face, igniting her cigarette. She rolled her eyes as she inhaled.

"Where's your date?" Blair asked Nate, ignoring his comment.

"Making out with some guy," Nate said, taking a smoke from his joint.

"So much for quitting," Blair quipped with a smirk as she looked out into the street.

"It's fresh tobacco. I roll my own," Nate said, a smile on his face. He loved proving Blair wrong.

"Whatever," Blair said, not able to think up a quick comeback. Damn did she hate having Nate prove her wrong.

"This prom blows," Nate said, looking back into the main lobby of the hotel through the doors. "Let's go somewhere," he said, dropping his cigarette onto the sidewalk and stepping on it.

"Serena's inside waiting for me," Blair explained, not exactly dying to hang out with her ex. He had already been with Jenny and that druggy, and she wanted to hold it against him as long as possible. She's a bitch, so what, a girl has her rights.

"Just a walk? It won't be long," Nate said. Blair looked at him and his eyes appeared brighter than ever. He looked so damn good in his tux, no bowtie, just the top two buttons undone, revealing tan, smooth skin. He had his jacket draped over his shoulder and the warm breeze blew his perfect hair; he looked hotter than the model in the new poster in Armani Exchange. "By the time you finish your cigarette, you can come back," Nate offered.

Blair blew the smoke from the side of her mouth, managing to look smooth and gorgeous doing so, before she nodded her head, "I guess."

They started walking along the sidewalk as cars drove by, creating the occasional breeze, ruffling Blair's new dress from Barney's. Blair didn't know whether to take her time smoking or smoke faster; it was nice to be with Nate, but she reminded herself that he was a dick and a half that cheated on her, and later left Jenny in the dust without her even knowing. But he is a hot dick and a half.

"So, how've things been going? Psyched for Yale?" Nate asked. Blair hated the word 'psyched' because Aaron said it way more than necessary.

"Yeah," Blair said, blowing a smoke ring from her mouth, "Did you get into Brown?" she asked, not really caring, just being polite which was rare for her.

"Yeah," Nate said with a half smile. Blair had to admit it was strange seeing Nate for such an extended amount of time not baked. It was hot, weird, but hot.

"Cool," Blair said, tapping her cigarette so the burning embers fall onto the pavement, watching as the glow faded.

As Blair looked up, taking a puff of her cigarette, she was met with Nate's gorgeous eyes.

"I still have your heart on my sleeve… I still wear it," Nate said seriously. This caught Blair way off guard and she coughed from the cigarette smoke she inhaled wrong. Not exactly the smartest thing to say as a girl is taking a breath of smoke.

"Are you stoned?" Blair blurted out. Way to be blunt.

"No, why?" Nate said, scrunching his eyebrows up in confusion, looking ever so sexy doing it.

"It's just… it caught me off guard is all," Blair said, regaining her cool as she took another puff of her cigarette, hoping her hand wasn't shaking.

"Well… I miss you," Nate said as he and Blair looked at one another. It was a scene straight out of a sappy romance movie. It was Paul and Holly in Breakfast at Tiffany's when they stood in the alley in the rain, communicating mostly with their eyes, except Paul wasn't an ex-stoner… and it wasn't raining.

Then Nate just leaned in and kissed her. Blair pictured this as her own Audrey Hepburn movie, imagining how perfect it would look on screen. But then she remembered everything, how perfect she had thought things could've been before, and they never worked out. It was reality, not a movie.

She pulled away from Nate and looked at him, straight into his unglazed-not-baked eyes. He was still the same guy that cheated on her and acted like a jerk, just without the drugs. She did miss him, and by looking at him you'd have to be on heavy meds to not know why, but she didn't miss him enough to quite forgive him. A girl has to hold her dignity for a while.

"Things can't go back to how they were," Blair said coldly, no way was she letting her fort break down that easy. She built it up for a reason. He had to get past the bitchy dragon in order to reach the damsel inside, "Besides," she said, throwing down her cigarette, "my cigarette's done." She stepped on it and turned on her heal and started back towards the hotel.

Nate just watched her hips sway as she walked away from him. Now that he didn't smoke as much, he felt more vulnerable, and at the moment, he hated it. He stared up into the dark night sky for a few seconds, just thinking, yes, thinking, something he'd been doing a lot since quitting pot. But he was snapped from his thoughts when he heard loud voices.

"'Ey!" Jeremy, his friend that he used to play soccer with stoned in the park, said as he and a few buddies were tackling one another on the sidewalk as they made their way towards Nate.

By the glazed eyes and the smell, Nate could tell they were baked.

"You wanna go to the park and play some night soccer before we come back for some action?" Anthony, Nate's other friend, asked.

"Nah," Charlie said, "Nate wouldn't want to hang with us stoners," he said, blowing smoke out his mouth as he spoke.

Jeremy laughed as he smoked his own joint.

Nate missed the smell of it, the feel of it, and right at the moment, he was girlfriend-less, action-less, and pot-less. Things were shitty. "Fuck it," Nate thought to himself.

As Jeremy was still laughing with the joint in his mouth, Nate pulled it from Jeremy's mouth and stuck the joint between his own lips. He inhaled deeply, the feeling of euphoria hit him and a giant smile appeared on his face.

"Wooooaaaahh!" all his friends said as they laughed, "Look who's back!"

"What about Blair? Brown? Staying clean?" Anthony mocked all the reasons Nate had once said.

"Fuck 'em all," Nate said, looking up into the night sky as he blew smoke from his mouth, and suddenly, the night sky seemed a bit brighter… for now at least.

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I hope you liked it. Constructive criticism/feedback is welcome!


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